July 22, 2005
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-3749)
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
STATUS REPORT: E05-007
NASA EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT: E05-007
Mission: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Launch Vehicle: Lockheed Martin Atlas V 401
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41), Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station
Launch Date: August 10, 2005
Launch Window: 7:54 to 9:39 a.m. EDT
The Launch System Verification Test, spacecraft power-on testing and
fueling is complete. A spin test to ensure balance of the spacecraft
was conducted July 12.
The mate of the MRO spacecraft to the launch vehicle payload adapter
should be completed this week. The MRO will be encapsulated into the
Atlas fairing beginning on Monday. On July 28, the MRO will be
transported from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to the
Vertical Integration Facility at SLC-41, where it will join the Atlas
V for the last phase of launch preparations. This is the first
government-civil launch of an Atlas V. NASA technical efforts for
certification of the Atlas V 401 launch vehicle are in the final
stages.
A second countdown wet dress rehearsal with the launch vehicle fully
fueled was conducted on July 19. During the July 7, T-4 minute hold
wet dress rehearsal, the Centaur liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank
experienced a very slow, but atypical pressure oscillation. While the
pressure values were not breaking operational limits, the data showed
a possibility they could be violated during the remaining countdown.
The Centaur LH2 Self Regulating Vent Valve (SRV) was changed and is
operating properly under ambient temperature conditions. The
rehearsal was necessary to test this new valve under cryogenic
conditions.
The MRO mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
Calif., for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin
Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and will
provide launch services for the mission with International Launch
Services.
Mission: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite
Observation and CloudSat (CALIPSO/CloudSat)
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta II 7420 DPAF
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 2 (SLC2), Vandenberg Air Force Base
(VAFB), Calif.
Launch Date: September 29, 2005
The CALIPSO team is scheduled to return to VAFB July 26 to start
spacecraft launch activities. The CloudSat team is scheduled to
return to VAFB in early August to begin battery reconditioning.
CALIPSO and CloudSat are highly complementary and together will
provide never-before-seen, 3-D perspectives of how clouds and
aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and
CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites in the
A-train constellation to enhance understanding of our climate system.
As a part of the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder program, CALIPSO
is a collaborative effort with the French space agency Centre
National d'Etudes Spatiales, Ball Aerospace, Hampton University, Va.
and France's Institut Pierre Simon Laplace. Ball Aerospace is
responsible for CALIPSO's scientific instrument and communications
suite, including the lidar and Wide Field Camera.
Previous status reports are available on the Web at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2005
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
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